Behind The Door
by Bloody Sword Alchemist
Summary: My interpretation of what happened to Hanna behind the door of Conrad's apartment when he freed Adelaide. Rated T for pain and blood, I suppose. Hanna-centric, not POV. Please read, review. Thanks!


**A/N:** I wanted to take a short break from my HiNaBN novelization, but I still wanted to write about Hanna, so...I wrote this! For those of you that don't know, one of my favorite hobbies is thoroughly abusing my favorite characters, physically or mentally/emotionally. Well, Hanna happens to be one of my favorites, and this scenario just presented itself so well. In summary, this is what Hanna went through behind the door of Conrad's apartment after Conrad and Zombie left to wait outside the door, leaving Hanna with Adelaide. Not much more to say. (laugh) So, please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name doesn't belong to me, in any way. All credit goes to Tessa Stone, the brilliant creator of the original comic.

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He knew he couldn't wait any longer. He'd been standing, motionless, staring at the floor in front of him, trying to put off the task he'd already agreed to face. The bat on his shoulder was twitching impatiently, silently urging him on as he dropped to his knees. He took his marker out of his pocket and uncapped it slowly, the soft pop echoing through the room. Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, he snapped the cap onto the end of the marker so he wouldn't lose it. Then he stared at the floor. Just watched it, his gaze worried behind his glasses. The sharp claws on the side of his face were dragged down a little, not enough to hurt him, just enough remind him he had a job to do. He could feel fear and apprehension curdling in his stomach, his heart beating the hard tattoo to mix the two together.

He lowered himself onto one hand and settled the tip of the marker against the wooden floor, clenching his teeth together until the muscle in his jaw hurt. He took a deep breath, the scar across his chest throbbing a little, and started to draw. As soon as the bat had told him what she wanted, he had known what to draw. Indeed, the problem hadn't been _knowing_ what had to be done, it was actually _doing_ it. He paused for a moment, then quickly kept working, knowing the flow of energy he was sending into the mark couldn't be disrupted until the spell was finished. He could feel a tight pull spreading through his muscles as the starting point of the mark started to flicker with a faint pink light. Forcing himself onward, he continued the sweeps and curls of the sign, the glow starting to spread even faster through what he'd already drawn.

Finishing it just in time and sitting back on his heels, he watched the light spread to the end he'd just drawn. Dread trickled down his spine as the light started to glow brighter and brighter, and a fiery, acidic burn started to spread through his organs. The bat fluttered off his shoulder to land in the center of the design, oblivious-or uncaring-as he lurched to his feet and staggered back, trying to put distance between himself the mark as if that would alleviate the pain he knew was quickly on its way. No sooner had he taken three steps back than the agony struck, exploding at the base of his skull, blinding him. He stumbled, turned his back to the mark and collapsed onto his knees, the marker slipping from his twitching fingers.

The pain ripped its way down his spine, coiling itself around his ribs and leaking between them, digging its claws into his lungs, forcing him to gasp frantically for air. It shot into his heart and he clutched at his chest, his whole body shaking violently as his muscles spasmed. Through tear-blurred eyes he saw the bat's shadow growing, stretching, until it was the shadow of a woman that stood behind him. He heard her speak, say something to him, but then the agony dripped off his ribs and down into his stomach where it mingled with the burn already present there. He felt himself retch, but nothing came up. The world around him swirled and blurred, the colors mingling together in a nauseating mess. He coughed and gasped, struggling to breathe, and panicked tears leaked down his cheeks as he fought for air. He felt himself getting light-headed, dizziness smothering his pounding head, and he prayed the aftereffects of the spell would wear off soon, _oh god, please soon_, in case he passed out, leaving his agonized body at the Vampire's mercy.

He heard shouting, a familiar, angry voice from beyond the door he'd lost sight of, but the pain was shredding its way down his legs and arms, jolting him sharply in the joints, leaving him unable to speak past his choking gasps. He could feel a cold puddle forming in his gut, and the harsh tang of blood was starting to coat the back of his throat. He heard the Vampire walking quietly past him and felt that he should stop her, keep her from reaching his friends in case she hurt them, but he could barely find the strength to keep himself upright, let alone move. He wheezed and fought against the pain constricting his throat and chest, hearing the door open and a heavy thud. A sharp, stabbing sensation started pounding in his forehead and behind his eyes, making black dots dance in his vision as he brought his hand up to press against his face.

Then he heard his name.

The voice that called it was worried, but everything around him was covered in snaking tendrils of darkness, creeping across the blurred world, keeping him from seeing anything, keeping him from finding the face of his friend. Suddenly a horrible, icy fire ignited in his chest and he felt a surge from his stomach, cold sweat breaking out across his skin. He choked and retched, a spew of hot, metallic-tasting blood filling his mouth and forcing its way between his lips; he heard it splatter against the floor below him. He heard his friend's worried voice shout his name again, then a flash of white-hot, freezing agony shot down his spine and everything swirled away.

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**A/N:** Well, that was it. Just a little bit of the story, nothing to special or fancy. I hope you liked it! (smile) Please review, if you can spare the time. (bow) Thank you!


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